How to Become a Foster Parent in California

Right now, there are children in California who need a stable home, and not enough families to offer one. The state’s Resource Family Approval program, overseen by the California Department of Social Services, was built specifically to make it easier for people like you to open that door. It replaced a tangle of older, separate licensing and approval processes with a single, unified path designed to be, in the state’s own words, “family friendly and child centered.”

The process has real steps: an application, background checks, a home assessment, and training before a child can be placed with you. None of it is quick, but all of it is doable. The sections below walk you through each step, so you know what’s coming before it arrives.

Who can be a foster parent in California?

The requirements to become a foster parent in California are broader than most people expect. You don’t have to be married. You don’t have to own your home. You don’t have to be wealthy. The state’s rules are designed to cast a wide net, because children in foster care need more homes, not fewer.

You can’t be turned away for who you are

California law is explicit on this. California’s foster family home regulations state that any adult may apply for a license regardless of age, sex, race, religion, color, political affiliation, national origin, disability, marital status, actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, HIV status, or ancestry. That’s not a suggestion. It’s the law. Single people, same-sex couples, older adults, people of any faith or no faith at all, all are eligible to apply.

What you actually need

What the state is looking for is simpler than most people assume. You need to show that you have the knowledge, ability, and willingness to care for a child. According to California’s foster family home regulations, that means being able to:

• Provide appropriate care and supervision, including communicating with the child
• Treat the child as part of your family, to the extent possible
• Support the child’s participation in normal childhood activities, using what the state calls the “reasonable and prudent parent standard,” meaning you make thoughtful, sensible decisions about things like sports, sleepovers, and school trips
• Keep required records about the child in your care
• Prepare the child for adulthood
• Complete required training and ongoing professional development

None of that requires a specific income level, a particular family structure, or any prior experience working with children.

Income and housing

You don’t need to be rich, but you do need to show that your household income is sufficient to cover your own family’s needs without depending on the foster care stipend. The stipend is meant to support the child in your care, not to subsidize your household. Beyond that, the state doesn’t set a specific income floor. California’s Resource Family Approval written directives require a home environment assessment, which looks at whether your home is safe and has adequate space for a child, but you don’t need to own your home to qualify.

Requirements vary by county, so check with your agency for specifics on how income and housing are evaluated in your area.

Physical and mental health

You’ll need to demonstrate that you’re physically and mentally capable of caring for a child. This typically comes up during the home study process, where an assessor gets to know you and your household. The goal isn’t to screen out people who have ever struggled or who have a chronic health condition. It’s to make sure the adults in the home are stable enough to meet a child’s needs consistently. If you have questions about how a specific health situation might affect your application, the best thing to do is ask your agency directly rather than assume it disqualifies you.

Background check requirements in California

Before a child ever sets foot in your home, California wants to know who lives there. The process involves several overlapping checks, and understanding what each one does will help you prepare.

Who has to be checked

Every adult 18 or older who lives in or is regularly present in your home must complete a background check. According to Los Angeles County DCFS clearance policy, this includes all applicants and all adults residing or regularly present in the home. Beyond that, anyone over 14 who lives in the home and is believed to have a criminal record must also be checked, unless that person is a child under juvenile court jurisdiction.

What the checks actually involve

There are several distinct clearances, and each one looks at something different:

• Live Scan fingerprinting submits your fingerprints to both the California Department of Justice and the FBI, returning a record of arrests and convictions based on your actual fingerprint data, not just your name.
• CLETS (California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System) runs a criminal history check based on demographic information alone, and is typically used for faster, initial screening.
• Child Abuse Central Index (CACI) checks whether your name appears on California’s index of substantiated child abuse and neglect reports.
• Out-of-state child abuse and neglect registry checks are required if you or any adult in your household has lived in another state, confirming that you don’t have a substantiated history in another jurisdiction.
• CWS/CMS and Family and Children’s Index (FCI) searches pull child welfare system records.

The Resource Family Background Checklist from the California Department of Social Services lays out what’s required for each person in the home.

Requirements vary by county — check with your agency for specifics.

What can disqualify you, and what might not

A criminal record doesn’t automatically end your application. The DCFS exemptions policy explains that if someone in your household has a conviction, they can request a criminal record exemption. The exemption process asks one core question: does this person present a risk to a child placed in the home? An exemption can be granted if there’s substantial and convincing evidence that the person is of good character and that placement would not pose a risk of harm.

That said, some convictions are harder to exempt than others. Felony convictions for child abuse or neglect, spousal abuse, crimes against children (including child pornography), and crimes involving violence such as rape, sexual assault, or homicide cannot be exempted at all. Felony convictions for physical assault, battery, or drug or alcohol-related offenses require a five-year waiting period before an exemption can be requested. For other convictions, a standard exemption can generally be requested after ten years.

Importantly, your application can’t be denied or rescinded without due process, including written notice and an opportunity to appeal.

When the checks have to happen

The department must initiate your background check within ten calendar days of an initial criminal records check through CLETS, or within five business days of a child being placed in your home, whichever comes first. In practice, this means your Live Scan appointment needs to happen quickly once the process is underway. The Resource Family Approval Written Directives govern these timelines at the state level.

Costs

You’ll need to get to a Live Scan site on your own. The county may, at its discretion, provide tokens or vouchers to help cover transportation or fees, but that’s not guaranteed. Check with your placing agency about what financial assistance, if any, is available in your county.

What to expect from the home study

You’ve done the paperwork. You’ve sent in the forms. Now someone is going to come to your house and ask you questions about your life. That prospect makes a lot of applicants nervous, and that’s completely understandable. But here’s what the home study actually is: a conversation, spread across a few visits, where a caseworker gets to know you and your household.

What the caseworker is actually trying to learn

The person conducting your home study isn’t looking for a reason to disqualify you. They’re trying to build a picture of who you are and whether your home is a place where a child can be safe and supported. According to the Resource Family Approval Written Directives, the assessment has two main parts: a home environment assessment and a permanency assessment. Together, these look at your physical space, your relationships, your parenting values, and your capacity to meet a foster child’s needs.

The regulations are specific about the qualities they’re looking for. You’ll need to show that you have the knowledge, ability, and willingness to care for a child, communicate with a child appropriately, treat a child as part of your family to the extent possible, and prepare a child for adulthood. California’s foster family home regulations also emphasize the “reasonable and prudent parent standard,” which basically means making thoughtful, sensible decisions about a child’s wellbeing, health, and participation in everyday life.

What happens during the visits

The caseworker will walk through your home. They’re checking that the physical space meets basic safety requirements, that children will have appropriate sleeping arrangements, and that the environment is generally suitable for a child to live in. They’ll also sit down with you, and potentially with your partner or other household members, for interviews.

The conversations cover a range of topics: your background, your support system, how you handle stress, your experience with children, your expectations about foster care, and how you’d manage the realities that come with it. The Written Directives also call for a family evaluation as part of the comprehensive assessment. This is where the caseworker looks at the whole household together, including how members relate to each other and how they’d integrate a child into their daily life.

How long it takes

There’s no single fixed timeline that applies everywhere in California. The process involves completing your pre-approval training, your background checks, and the full assessment before a written report is finalized and your approval certificate can be issued. The Written Directives require the caseworker to produce a written report summarizing the findings of the comprehensive assessment before approval can be granted. Requirements vary by county, so check with your agency for specifics on how long each phase typically takes in your area.

Pre-service training requirements

You don’t just show up and start fostering. Before a child can be placed in your home, California requires you to complete a set number of training hours. These classes are designed to give you a real foundation for understanding the kids who come into care and what they need from you.

The state minimum: 12 hours before approval

Under California’s resource family approval process, counties are responsible for ensuring that every applicant completes a minimum of 12 hours of pre-approval caregiver training before they’re approved. This is a statewide floor, not a county suggestion. AB 1914, signed into law in 2022, also requires resource families to complete CPR and first aid training within 90 days of approval, though exceptions exist for licensed healthcare professionals and those with equivalent certifications.

What you’ll actually learn

Pre-approval training focuses on the needs of children in foster care. You’ll cover things like the foster care system itself, what kids in care have typically been through, and what you can realistically expect as a caregiver. The goal is to help you make an informed decision about whether fostering is right for your family, and to prepare you for the reality of it if it is.

State law also requires that training include content on psychotropic medications, including how they’re authorized, what the risks and benefits are, and how caregivers can assist with monitoring. SB 238, enacted in 2015, added these requirements specifically because children in foster care are prescribed these medications at high rates, and caregivers need to understand what that means for the kids in their home.

Pre-placement training: 8 more hours

Beyond the 12 hours required before approval, you’ll also need to complete 8 hours of pre-placement training before a child can actually come home with you. According to Los Angeles County’s DCFS, these two phases serve distinct purposes: pre-approval classes focus on the child’s needs, while pre-placement classes focus on self-care and how to be an effective caregiver with prudent parenting standards. That’s a useful distinction. The first phase is about understanding the kids. The second is about you and your capacity to sustain this work.

Requirements vary by county. Check with your agency for specifics on how training is scheduled, whether it’s offered online or in person, and whether any sessions are combined.

How training is delivered in Los Angeles

In Los Angeles County, community applicants, meaning families who aren’t relatives or non-related extended family members of a specific child, complete their training through the Community College Foundation. The total pre-placement requirement in LA comes to 20 hours (12 pre-approval and 8 pre-placement), which matches the state framework but is delivered through a county-organized system.

After approval: annual training continues

Training doesn’t stop once you’re approved. According to AB 1914, resource families must complete a minimum of 8 hours of annual caregiver training each year to maintain their approval. In Los Angeles, this is called Post-Approval Training or Annual Renewal Training.

License types and renewal in California

If you’ve started researching how to become a foster parent in California, you’ve probably run into the term “Resource Family Approval” and wondered how it fits with older terms like “licensed foster family home.” California unified its approval system under a single process, and understanding that process will save you a lot of confusion.

The resource family approval process

California replaced its previous patchwork of separate licensing and approval tracks with one unified standard. According to California Welfare and Institutions Code section 16519.5, the Resource Family Approval (RFA) process was designed to replace the existing multiple processes for licensing foster family homes, certifying foster homes through foster family agencies, approving relatives and nonrelative extended family members as foster care providers, and approving guardians and adoptive families. In other words, whether you’re a non-relative hoping to foster, a relative stepping up for a family member, or someone open to adoption, you’re all moving through the same RFA process now.

A “resource family” is defined as an individual or family who has successfully met both the home environment assessment standards and the permanency assessment criteria necessary to provide care for a child placed by a public or private child placement agency. That’s what you’re working toward.

One thing worth knowing: once a county implements RFA, it can no longer accept new applications for the old-style foster family home license. If you’re applying today in a county that has implemented the program, RFA is your path.

Provisional and temporary approvals

Not every approval is a full approval, and that’s okay. California’s system includes mechanisms for getting a child into a safe home quickly when the situation calls for it.

All County Letter No. 22-33 explains that when a child is removed from their home in an emergency, relatives and nonrelative extended family members can be temporarily authorized to receive a child before their full RFA approval is complete. This kind of emergency placement is specifically designed for situations where there’s no time to wait. If a child is placed in your home before your approval is finished, the RFA process must be completed within 90 days of placement, unless good cause exists.

The juvenile court also plays a role here. A judge can authorize placement with a relative even before a criminal record exemption process is complete, or even if approval has been denied, as long as the court finds the placement doesn’t pose a risk to the child’s health and safety.

Annual renewal and ongoing training

Approval isn’t a one-and-done event. Staying approved requires ongoing training each year.

Under AB 1914, counties are responsible for ensuring that resource family applicants complete a minimum of 12 hours of preapproval caregiver training before they’re approved, and that approved resource families complete a minimum of 8 hours of annual caregiver training to maintain their status. CPR and first aid certification are also required: you’ll need to complete that training no later than 90 days following your initial approval, and you’ll need to keep those certifications current. There are narrow exemptions, such as for health care professionals with active licensure, but for most people, CPR and first aid are part of the package.

Requirements vary by county. Check with your agency for specifics on how your county structures annual renewal, what documentation they require, and whether they offer training locally or through a partner organization.

Staying licensed: what’s required after approval

Getting licensed isn’t a finish line. It’s the beginning of an ongoing relationship with your agency, and there are real expectations that come with it every year.

Annual training

Every year you’re licensed, you’re required to complete a minimum of 8 hours of caregiver training. That requirement is set by state law and applies to all resource families. According to AB-1914, which amended California’s resource family approval statute, counties are responsible for ensuring that resource families complete this annual training. What the training actually covers can vary, but it’s designed to keep your skills current and address the real situations foster parents face. Topics have included psychotropic medication oversight, trauma, and mental health treatments for children in care, as required under SB-238.

Requirements vary by county, so check with your agency for specifics on how to fulfill your hours and what topics are required in your area.

Monitoring visits and home inspections

Your agency will check in with you after placement. These are structured contacts meant to make sure you have what you need and that children in your home are safe and thriving. California’s Resource Family Approval Written Directives lay out the monitoring requirements that counties must follow, including ongoing contact with resource families after approval.

On the facility side, the Community Care Licensing Division conducts inspections of licensed facilities, including both scheduled and unannounced visits. The state is required to visit all facilities at least once every five years, with a random sample of 30 percent of facilities inspected each year in addition to that.

Annual renewal and approval updates

Your approval isn’t permanent in a set-it-and-forget-it sense. The Written Directives include a formal process for updating your approval annually and any time significant changes happen in your household. According to Section 9-02 of the Written Directives, counties conduct approval updates to make sure your home still meets all requirements. There are also specific update processes when a resource parent is added to or removed from the household.

Reporting household changes

If someone moves into your home, you’re required to notify your agency. That includes new adults, new household members of any age, and changes in the makeup of your family. This matters because background check requirements follow household composition. Anyone added to the home who is subject to clearance requirements will need to go through that process before the household update can be finalized. The Written Directives address this directly under the approval update provisions for addition or removal of a resource parent.

Reporting obligations

Foster parents have mandatory reporting duties. If you have reasonable suspicion that a child has been abused or neglected, you’re required by law to report it. This applies to all children in your home, not just foster children. Your agency will walk you through the specifics of how and where to report during your pre-approval training, but the obligation doesn’t end when training does. It’s a permanent part of being a licensed caregiver in California.